HP launches Windows 8 desktops

Kate Taylor, 10th September 2012

"The clean look of an all-in-one PC and the ease of one-cord set-up are key reasons customers turn to HP," says James Mouton, senior vice president and general manager of the company's Personal Computer Global Business Unit.

"The SpectreOne design is art as well as a powerful entertainment hub. Across our rich line of all-in-ones, we continue to drive value and differentiation that have earned us sales of more than five million all-in -ones."

Both machines are based on Intel Ivy Bridge processors, and have up to 3TB of storage. An ExpressCache SSD option speeds up boot-up and application start times.

HP Connected Photo syncs photos from a smartphone to the PC and stores them in their native resolution, and also included are HP Connected Music for music downloads, streaming services and internet radio, and HP Connected Backup, which lets users seamlessly access and automatically back up files online.

Due for release next month, the Envy 23 TouchSmart starts at $999, and the Envy 20 TouchSmart at $799.

The super-thin SpectreOne, meanwhile isn't a touchscreen system, but has a 23.6-inch flush-glass full HD display and a wireless trackpad.

It features an Nvidia 1GB graphics card, along with optional ExpressCache and SSD. It includes HP’s TouchZone near-field communication (NFC) technology, allowing users to simply tap a smartphone or NFC tags on the base of the PC to transfer content or log in. There are also two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI-in and a Beats Audio headphones jack.

It'll ship in November, costing from $1299.

Finally there's the lower-cost Pavilion 20 - from just $499 - due to ship in October. No touch support here either, just a keyboard and mouse. There are both Intel and AMD-based models, and up to 2TB of storage.